Thank you, Professor Reich, for succinctly interweaving all the different dynamics in play. The three things that could move our nation to a more just, honorable, and forward, thinking nation are:
1- Return of the full weight of Glass-Steagall
2- Mandate all campaign funding for elected office be from public not private money
3- End the practices of companies buying back stock, along with banning stock shares as part of executive compensation
With these three things in place, we take away some of the major reasons why big corporations have disproportionate power on legislation and oversight. You take away their payola dance with legislators, and restrict key factors in furthering monopoly capitalism.
Catering to greed does nothing to enhance the continuing of our civilization. Thank you Robert for making this all tangible for us.
Shar & Rick, I am laughing. Roberts probably gets plenty of sleep at night (unless he is up counting his money and thinking about what he will do for eternity in Heaven while gloating about the folks he thinks are in Hell). He believes he has taken care of himself for life: He and his family are rich beyond most people's dreams and he's a judge (OK not a good one, but a judge), he has a job for life where he can say and do anything and still remain employed and in power, he has bought his way into Heaven with his abortion ruling and his opposition to same-sex marriage (I bet he is on board with the bans on birth control that Thomas, another justice trying to get into Heaven is up for). He also gets to satisfy his racist tendencies when he and his conservative buddies put down affirmative action this summer (one of the hopes for advancement that people of color in this country have). Yep, Johnny Roberts is doing just fine even if he shouldn't be.
There's an old maxim that I would like to apply here Ruth, 'Easy come, Easy Go', and as we are seeing the machinations of humans and people like Roberts et al can and will be easily undone....takes a while but it happens.
Once saw a wise comment from a street artist - Greed breeds mean deeds.
Ruth, I personally believe we make a hell on Earth in more than one way, for instance, right in our own mind. That's a pretty tough task master. I only hope as the years wear on that what exists of a mind gets more and more crowded and guilt ridden with his paid-off miss deeds.
I wish there were such a thing as a bill that could force those who are against abortion or paying for birth control would be likewise forced to adopt all the unwanted children made from this mess. That would stop the whole thing in its tracks real fast.
Ever wonder why the Banksters want everyone in on Crypto-currency?
It's much easier to steal larger quantities trading your cash for 0's and 1's in the matrix with the push of a button! Shades of Willie Sutton on steroids!
Fink, Hooley and Buckley of Vanguard, State Street and Blackrock just tucked away billions for their financial services and investment funds... Clinton signed away Glass-Steagull in the Telecommunications Act, Trump Dodd-Frank. Same old con: the rich get richer!
The Italian word for stomach is Panza. When the Hogs [Banksters] come to the trough to feed, they get extremely fat,; ergo the inevitable "Panza scheme"!
I hope the enablers who helped Robert's and his corrupt fellow GOPpers take over the Supreme Court, eventually wise up as to cause and effect resulting from whom they vote for. Not real optimistic about that.
Don't hold your breath! They already own SCOTUS with the 6-3 Konservative Kangaroo Kourt Jester ratio in place, to the remaining 3 Progressive justices.
If JB grows a set and expands the playing field to at least 6-6, we'd have a fighting chance. For the moment, think SCUBA.
Gloria, I am with you, how are We the People going to make those three goals happen? I suspect we will not be able to get any of them done at least until 2025 unless we can get a different more decent Speaker of the House. We can plan, though for a winning election in 2024 and set out the kinds of priorities we have including increasing the size of the Supreme Court with good, non-partisan justices who care about our Constitution more than their own personal ideology and the money they and their families are pulling in from corporations and PACs. Then we need to get regulations in line with what is needed to protect us all from corporate greed and recession. Then there is election reform, accepting only public money and money from private individuals of no more than $2,000. We need legislation to stop gerrymandering for any reason, and to be sure that every citizen who turns 18 years old is automatically registered to vote and their vote cannot be denied for any reason, just as the Constitution says. There are no limits listed. Those would be a good start to end some of the corruption.
Hi Ruth, we could be doing that right now if Garland and Biden would have prosecuted about 206 GOP insurrectionist and not allowed them to take over the Congress and left them in charge of the supreme Court. If we can make it through this crazy Congress by raising the debt ceiling and not rigging the elections we might have a chance. All these Trump supporters will be told it was all Biden's fault and they will of course choose to believe it cuz that's what they do, if it feels good to them, they believe it. We will know by the end of June. I agree with you. It is tough to do battle with an insane enemy who has deep pockets.
Thanks for mentioning that $2000 limit, Ruth. The was in place through the 2008 election. It needs to be reinstated, This crap of billions of dollars pouring into the already wealthy media, to elect dishonorable politicians has to end.
Everybody I talk to on both sides hates citizens united and wants to end lobbyist. So why can't we? I mean everyone. Does any one out here know of someone that likes the lobbyist system we have. If so post it.
it would take a constitutional amendment to get rid of citizens united. it will never be abolished by congress, because the repugnants and corporate dems are bought and paid for by the plutocrats and corporations. so it is essentially not doable.
Nothing will change without ending the filibuster and expanding the Disgraced Roberts Court with it’s 2 illegitimate justices and its 2 other sexual abusers legislating from the bench. Unfortunately, such a change in our rollback to pre-Civil War Constitutional principles will require a Great Depression like calamity.
Never Fear, the Lemming Caucus now in control of the House may cause such an event by defaulting on the U.S. debt.
OUR Constitution actually does NOT say that Supreme Court Justices have "Lifetime Appointments", rather it says that the justices can keep their position with "good behavior". Based on your description of some of these justices, their behavior is anything, but "good". Why have we all been bamboozled to believe the lie of "lifetime appointments"? The MONEY knows that the Supreme Court is their last bastion to protect them in their current hierarchy and wealth. And so, it is. More justices are NOT the solution. TERM LIMITS certainly is. An enacted "Code of Ethics" as ALL of the judges in other courts MUST adhere to certainly is. We MUST bring "justice for ALL" into the body of the Supreme Court.
must have something to do with that "no sitting president can be prosecuted" thing that the justice dept made up decades ago (in response to another corrupt pres.) oh well.
we just aren't vigilant enough, i guess. what working family man or woman has the time to critically keep track of all the legal shenanigans that are foisted on us?
Voters can change if they will unite. Set aside identity politics, i don't see voters aligning in that area, but large numbers of red and blue voters are aligning around issues like $15min wage, higher taxes on the rich, heatlh care etc...
DS - Then you don't understand voters very well. Republicans in the house don't represent Republican voters any more than Democrats in the house who oppose M4A represent Democratic voters.
Elected Dems and GOP refuse to even vote on issues that Americans want because it will jeopardize their donor base....Not my opinion... Read Reich's own writing.
that is because never again mean do it again we need to support women totally and if a few men get hit along the way well we just need to end this women abuse
Gloria, Some decent, honest politicians could write new legislation nullifying Citizens United, our job is top find those decent politicians and encourage them to act.
sorry that won't work. The supreme court ruled that means it takes a constitutional amendment to change it now or new supreme court with enough guts good luck on either.
Thanks, that is bad news. But there may still be a way to write new legislation that, at least temporarily undoes Citizens United. If it were up to the majority of people in the US, it would be a slam dunk that only real living, breathing, Homo sapiens are people and corporations being paper (or even digital) entities are not real. But the republicans have the bit in their teeth (and the money in their pockets) so they'd never let it pass.
Thank you also for your intelligent thoughts on this subject. The greed in this country on the part of the people who least need the money is reprehensible. It really is.
My own greed isn't that great, either, and I'm ~ near the top of the second (from the bottom!) quintile of wealth. I'm ok, until the stock market eats my pension and Social Security is driven down. I think maybe greed, and other forms of insecurity and agressiveness, stem from fear of death, etc. (fears of starvation and homelessness get one's attention, too, yes?). How we might tamp down greed -- until the aliens visit and presto! reform our dog-eat-dog consciousness -- is a challenging question.
I'm sure the reason for people's greed is as varied as people themselves. I've never had money. I'm probably one tier down from you. I don't begrudge anyone who legally earns their money. But there are really poor people in this country, also for a variety of reasons. I have a lot of empathy for others. Idk. You are probably right about the aliens. 🙁
And Eric is reportedly traveling the country with an avowed anti-Semitic fascist, unabashed and public for violence and hatred as cash cows, passing the red hat for money, money, money from those who are also part of the violence and hatred vision of America as fascist hell.
What a bitter disappointment the milquetoast Merrick Garland is. Monsters move among us at will, spreading the destruction of our country and Mr. Garland waits for the warrior Fani Willis to do his job or for Alvin Bragg and Letitia James to kind of maybe do his job. It was violent, murderous mobs threatening to overthrow OUR government and their Dear Leader(s) are out making speeches, making recordings, selling merchandise ....
President Biden has left so much of Trump's fascist/plutocratic/corporate-oligarchic appointed cult in place: Louis DeJoy, Jerome Powell, chief among them. Why are we still experiencing the Trump Crime Syndicate's take-over of our government when Biden has been in office for going on three years?!
Rule of law. Without fear or favor.
My foot.
Even Constitutional law experts (Lawrence Tribe, Andrew Weissman, Neal Katyal, Joyce Vance, Jamie Raskin, Adam Schiff, Barbara McQuaid, et al. et al. ) say publicly that it is beyond belief or understanding that DOJ has effectively done nothing about the coup. The coup continues! The monsters hold rallies and receive money!!! Why??!!
To the extent that Manchins and Sinemas of the world have run and been elected as Democrats, or more progressive candidates have lost elections, or have been just, plain politically inept you're right. And don't even get me started on what's happening in the states! But they're not what Democrats represent. It would be naive to buy the typical claim of moral equivalency between the two parties, which you seemingly imply, and that I shall not suffer. For example, Democrats >did not< seat 6 of the SCOTUS justices - and >that< clearly demonstrates the Republicans' collective attitude toward most US citizenry. The louder the Republicans claim to speak for some half-assed moral majority, the more that party represents the avarice of complete, self-serving scoundrels, who care nothing for the kind of society their policies engender, or the people who are crushed under the weight of its err.
Here's a lesson in PoliSci 101 for you:
Generally speaking:
Republicans believe in laissez-faire, dog-eat-dog capitalism. They represent the very rich, and support economic measures that benefit the rich. Their posturing as in some way hard-working and/or morally superior is their campaign fraud, calculated to dupe the gullible in the lower social strata into supporting their politicians and policies. They believe in the entitlement of wealth, only believe in human rights for citizens commensurate with their ability to buy them, and portray social safety-nets as entitlements for undeserving parasites. They believe in law enforcement and national defense only to the extent that it's there to protect them and their stuff. Notice I didn't include religious righteousness - a key component of their political fraud designed to elicit the support of those who >haven't a clue< what the savior they would have us all believe they worship was about.
By contrast, Democrats believe in well-regulated business practices, social services and public works designed to serve the greatest number of US citizens, that human rights are the entitlements guaranteed under the Constitution to >all< US citizens, a progressive income tax indexed on the taxpayers' ability to pay, where spending in support of achieving those aims are the cost of doing the country's business. That includes law enforcement whose main job is to enforce law designed to maintain order by protecting the citizenry's ability to enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, while ensuring that national defense guarantees these United States are not threatened by hostile international or domestic actors.
As for any claims to the contrary, see the point concerning election fraud. Period.
I would not strongly argue with your depiction of most GOP elected officials. Where you fail the 'critical thinking' test is in your failure to point to Democratic elected officials leaning just as hard as GOP officials in policy that helps the donor class while harming the working class and poor.
Example: The Obama administration chose to bail out banks, the leadership of those banks and share holders after the 2008 economic crash, while turning their backs on home owners. That as not GOP law makers that was Obama with full control of the house and senate.
Example: Dems has the house and senate and passed the ACA and not Mediare for all or even a Public Option.
Example: Bill Clinton signed the bill that allowed Banks to take wild speculation knowing tax payers would be required to bail them out. Glass Steagal
Example: Joe Biden said he would not sign Medicare for All even if the house and senate passed it.
I could go on but the evidence is irrefutable. Dem law makers are as controlled by the donor class the GOP... FULL STOP
I'm >absolutely certain< I mentioned the Manchins & Sinemas of the world winning seats as Democrats. I also mention losing elections - primary's mainly. Hell! Ol' Tweety is proof that can happen. Also, I cite ineptitude of Democrats. That's with regard to political negotiation, which I confess I didn't clarify. What the Democrats stand for isn't necessarily reflected by those elected as Democrats - who aren't really Democrats, or who are ineffective at achieving Democratic objectives, or just, plain outnumbered.. Besides, you massively overlook political negotiations involved with getting >any< legislation passed - a falsehood by omission. I might cite critical reading here.
DZK- Your description of GOP elected officials was hyperbolic but directionally accurate. You can stand by it but it reveals a hyperpartisan intellectual weakness. But feel free to stand by it.
I did not "over look" political negotiations. All politics is negotiations.
Most GOP voters do not support tax cuts to the rich. But GOP leadership was easily able to get more than enough votes to please the donor class.
The Dems could have chosen not to bail out Bank Executives and bank share holders and they could have provided help to the home owners. Both would have been better for the economy and voters would have approved. They chose to help the donor class.
Both parties serve the donor class over the poor and middle class. Deal with it.
Cathlynn Groh : She can be veep. If Bernie becomes incapable because of health/age, she would be able to ' take the reins '.or her student: Katie Porter.
Don't agree. The DNC wasn't ready in 2016 and 2020, the people were. I don't care that Bernie is 80 years old. Like he says: "I know people who are 90 who are sharper than most people who are 40."
I would love to see President Elizabeth Warren, but I fear most people regard her as a phony. Unfortunately, I don't think she's electable.
If Biden decides not to run, Bernie will be the ideal candidate. We need not just a caretaker for a capitalism that has gone off the rails, but someone who could really make America into Denmark plus Route 66.
Elizabeth Warren is the epitome of “not phony”. What she is is a “woman” oh my god, America couldn’t elect a woman! A woman might want to regulate immature baby boys into a sensible mature plan that helps them learn to share!!
I apologize for making it sound like you said that. I know you said “ people regard her as a phony”! Well once “people “ see that in writing it will be used again as a “truth”!
I just posted we need to fully support women so never again really means never again and think that is a little over half the population so half of discrimination is gone with equality for women
The republicans run demonization programs for years against strong, intelligent women and it's been effective. They did it against Hillary and Warren and are now doing it against Harris.
With the help of Russian trolls, bots, disinformation and misinformation. Russians hack hack away at our brains through social media- Twitter FB Insta TikTok etc.
You are correct about the Republicans' treatment of women and that includes Republican WOMEN'S treatment of women and, I might add, Hillary Clinton's own treatment of women, at least those with whom Bill had liaisons. That said, plenty of pretty terrific Democrats are not great fans of Hillary Clinton or Kamala Harris. Elizabeth Warren though? YEAH!
Clinton persuaded the popular Warren out of the 2016 competition and, unfortunately, Warren complied. These are different times and the stakes for America seem pretty dire. I think Elizabeth Warren and a great running mate hell-bent on reform and progress, communicating great vision and hope, could turn this ragged ship of state around.
If "people regard her as a phony" they need to be confronted. That is just balderdash that has been promulgated by fear of her (and Bernie) because her intelligence and highly informed analysis present a threat to their very lucrative and corrupt status quo. Elizabeth Warren is one smart cookie and one with a moral compass! (probably not a good dessert but a great leader!)
Elizabeth Warren and Sheldon Whitehouse or Jason Crow or Bernie Sanders or ....
Good lord NO. No more Bernie. Please look up his voting in the senate AND the things he constantly says the country needs to do, but that he hasn't gotten done in VT. NO MORE BERNIE.
This is all fine regarding US banks, but there's a more global component I don't hear being discussed in the US conversation that DW brings up. It's not only US banks holding those securities that have gone flat because of Fed policy: https://youtu.be/a0Ilm230bf8
Civilization. In a story carried here in Belgium today, we read the words of a lawyer for the victim whose death, according to the charges, was procured as he underwent a student hazing ritual. As counsel watches the defendants file past him in their Sunday finery along a courtroom corridor, he says to the reporter: "Beschaving is een flinterdun laagje vernis." Civilization is a wafer-thin covering of varnish.
You can view that as cynical, or as truthful. Top-down, when you have revealed to you the rot that lies beneath the varnish, it seems wafer-thin. But, bottom-up, the effort needed to impose that wafer-thin layer, you'd think it were elephant hide.
We are all going to die, very true. However there is meaning to life. It is to perpetuate the species, that is the only meaning. Nature has provided us the means to do it. Nature screwed up in one way, it allowed this thing we call intelligence to develop and intelligence gives us ways to destroy the species.
Nice, thoughtful response. I almost hate to tell you that it's gallows humor, the likes of which one can find among Slavic people - having a Polish-Ukrainian ancestry, myself! The person I responded to provided a little cynical humor in Belgian shortly after I came across these two links. I thought it hysterically funny that the first time I've ever come across anything from someone wanting to teach us all a little Polish, these should be what he presents! I thought it even funnier to respond to a little cynical Belgian humor from the courtroom with a little Polish humor from the gallows. LOL! Note his response to the links. He got the joke.
The problem is that we have the fox guarding the Hen house! This tactic was clearly employed by Trump in agencies and in the courts! The ONLY solution, is COLLECTIVE action by the lower 99%, or 90, 0r 85% (etc) to pass this, or any other legislation that challenges the power of the plutocrats that use their wealth as power, via ballot initiative/referendum. But to do this, we would have to believe what our eyes are showing us. This is a prime example of who really has the power, and it's not the majority!
Excellent points! Execution compensation is sucking all profits while the working people are working for pennies on the dollar. The disparity in wages is breaking down our entire society, every fabric of the democracy demands a certain level of equality! Without that we cannot survive as a democracy
Sadly, the Supreme Court has effectively declared #2 unconstitutional. Money is deemed political speech. And a Constitutional amendmnt of any kind will never pass.
Not all of them. Mr Reich hasn't interwoven all of the dynamics.
The responses to the posit boil down to "Those with responsibility aren't taking their responsibilities responsibly." Followed by various reasons why that should be. "Because they're greedy."
I'm greedy. Place me in front of a half pound of cashews and tell me I can eat as many as I please. I happen to like cashew nuts. It's the soft hardness that I like. And the taste. And lots of salt. How many will I eat? One? No, not one. A handful? Closer, but no, not a handful. Unchecked, I will scoff the lot. The whole half pound. And I will root around at the bottom of the container and secretly question, "Is that all?" The core operative word here is "unchecked". The wise never say "Eat as many as you please" but rather "Please have some."
So, why do things go unchecked? Until, that is, someone discovers the discarded container with a few grains of salt, after the fact? It is this dynamic which Mr Reich leaves un-interwoven but which is fundamental to the whole sorry issue of abuse by those with responsibility of their responsibilities.
Why do systems that seem to work only in part, or superficially or, casus extremis, not at all or even, dare I say it, counter-intuitively, have that effect? Like AML that functions so as to permit money-laundering? Or the swearing of oaths that is a preface to a string of lies. Don't libraries realise that it's not a compact to return library books that ensures library books are returned? It's the borrower's appreciation of what a lending library even is that procures the books' return.
So, the answer may seem to lie in enforcement. What use a system whose goal is not achieved through a lack of enforcement? An old wisdom of mine says that there is no such thing as a bad waiter. There are only bad maître d's. Mrs Yellen is a maître d'. She has in her charge a system of regulation that should ensure that banking disasters don't occur or, if they do, occur where they could not but occur. That system failed. And its resolution is followed swiftly by bland statements that "everything is fine".
The banking regulator needs to know a lot about banking. But it did not take any interest in the investment by an ordinary bank in an ordinary bond issue that had the effect of deteriorating the bank's liquidity over an extended period of several months. This is like a maître d' who stands by and watches as, over several months, a waiter regularly drops plates of food in diners' laps.
Remedying this should be simple childhood arithmetic: get regulators who regulate. Because a bad waiter will never improve until they are forced to learn how to carry a plate of food from the kitchen to the table. It should not be beyond the wit of a waiter to do that. And it should not be beyond the wit of a bank regulator to ensure that an investment in sovereign debt doesn't make the bank go belly-up. But it is.
We advocate leniency on wrongdoers essentially because we don't want to be handled unfairly if we ever find ourselves in the dock. It is striving for equanimity and fairness that results in acts of unfairness going unchecked. We could give the Fed politically motivated, draconian power to step in and wrest control of how banking is done. But, we don't want to appear overweening. So, because the Fed is there for the industry, it works for the industry and, in that, neglects the industry's customers. And then tells them that - everything is all right.
GV - Your reasoning is flawed. As long as banks are able to hire regulators who play ball when they want to leave the government and pay "maitre d's" like Yellen $100K a pop to make a speech infront of their execs then we don't really have regulation. We have what is known in economic terms as "regulatory capture"
Reich is well documented in fighting "regulatory capture". The solution is easy. The challenge is getting it implemented. It's not quite a bag of cashews, more like public policy.
I won't revert to the analogy. I think we both think the same thing. The regulators are not regulating as they should. I didn't mean to miscall Mr Reich. Sorry Bob.
Big changes is never easy. Womans right to vote, forming labor unions, black civil rights all took massive amounts of effort, organizing and sacrifice on behalf of voters. Law makers will do nothing until voters fight to force law makers to take action.
Step #1 for voters. Don't vote for law makers in your own party, during primaries, that take funding from large corporations. The more we do this the more power we will have over law makers. Make it a habit.
Step #2 for voters. Join organizations and get organized. It almost does not matter what organization you join. But join. We have to get organized.
Good summary... totally agree... While reverting to the pre 1982 law banning stock buy backs i would also institute the pre 1982 tax cuts that has max tax at 70% of income over a certain amount. It would kill the incentive for CEO's to lavish massive salaires and bonuses on themselves by eeking out short term profits rather than investing in the future of the company and emplyees.
i think glass-steagall must be reinstated. but then, i'm a person whose funds are few and fleeting. the last thing i (and millions like me) need is to make our funds even fewer and more fleeting. otherwise, what's the point of working when all your funds and many of your assets can disappear forever into a wealthy elite's portfolio?
The opposite of risk is certainty. What Wall Street does to Main Street is the introduction of banking as a casino where the house odds are disguised. Why do people -who wish simply a predictability that their unspent earnings of today can be retrieved tomorrow-tolerate being forced to play at the table, with rules that are foreign to them? Who's watching out for the Average Joe?
Girl Scientist, the corporate rich don't care about any of us no matter how much we work. It is their addiction to money and power that drives nearly everything they do and we are just the little people who get in the way of what they want. They have forgotten that we the people are the workers that generate the wealth. So many of the banks are so far removed from the people is it a disgrace. Many banks don't even keep mortgages and loans anymore but sell them at a discount to other entities. The larger and mid-sized banks are no longer even really part of the communities where they exist. People do their regular banking there, but the bank does not invest in the community. Then, there's the Fed . . . .
Ruth, re your summation of 'the rich' = I recently came across a = blurb - from Bill Gates (super rich rounder of MicroSoft here in/near Seattle) who (pretty much said) 'It's not worth - giving up my '(s)lavish' lifestyle to/for/because of - climate change (while getting ready to
fly off in his private jet spewing/leaving behind jet trails of - ?) [huge sigh - cough cough]
which pretty much sums up the - "lifestyles of the rich and famous" (at least mostly ~)
Sir Thomas More achieved sainthood, and that's never achieved easily. In the play about his demise (A Man For All Seasons), he has the following exchange as he dismisses his servant because his dispute with the king has rendered him penniless:
- I shall miss you, Matthew.
- No-o-o. You never had much time for me, sir. You see through me, sir, I know that.
- I shall miss you, Matthew; I shall miss you.
In another scene, Norfolk argues with Cromwell, who wants to pin a bribe on More:
- Goddammit he was the only judge since Cato who didn't accept bribes. When was there last a Chancellor whose possessions after three years in office totalled one hundred pounds and a gold chain.
That's the price of sainthood: one hundred pounds and a gold chain. I like the ring of "Saint Chase Manhattan." I wonder if there will ever be a banking executive who is canonised?
Glass-Steagall worked. There was never a sound reason to repeal it. Of course it should be reinstated because Wall Street will always eat Main Street’s lunch if you let it. Banks should not gamble with other people’s money -- or homes. Flesh and blood citizens are made to pay the price of bad behavior by fiduciaries acting contrary to the interests of their clients. Reinstating Glass-Steagall is the best solution.
Glass-Steagall Act should be reinstated, and all other deregulations instated during the trump's should be nullified. Problem is how? We have the Senate, but the House has a spineless speaker, puppeteered by the MAGA right-wingers, whose purpose is to go to the bottom of Hunter's laptop and whether the SARS-COV 2 was leaked or not, aside from other "very important" legislative agenda, while the country is crumbling. We need competent people like Bernie Sanders and Dr. Reich in power, more than ever!
The President should use executive powers to protect taxpayers from being bilked again: if at all possible. They wage war against the human beings (that would be US). The fact that it has happened recently, and criminals have been allowed into our government because of poor vetting of candidates is our downfall.
Ironic, don'cha think, that when the Fed decided to try driving wage gains down, claiming the economy was "overheating," its increased interest rates only succeeded in causing banks to collapse ‽ Hell! Hire me as Fed chair. I could do at least as well and I'm a damn moron! LOL!
At least I just happen to understand the law of unintended consequence.
DZK, I'd vote for you! I can't stand Powell's smug attitude as though he is so smart and the rest of us know nothing. I don't understand what is going on with the rest of the Fed board. Are they less than "morons?" How is it they couldn't have seen what would happen when interest rates went up so quickly when the economy is thriving and people are working? Republicans are really into deregulation as long as they are raking in the bucks with impunity but they want no interference with their personal "free markets," that is until there is a problem. They prefer to blame everyone else and that usually works for them. This time, a whole lot of those guys who want no regulations are getting hurt and again, we will take care of them and the Fed will continue as usual under Powell in his ignorance.
Well stated! Seems Powell cannot/will not learn from his many mistakes. I, too, wonder about the rest on the Fed board. It seems some economists never learn from history or experience. Not only is it sad and too bad—it destroys/harms so many lives, but rarely the super rich.
Taking Biden's part, last I heard he's effectively issued a "burn notice" on the bank execs & shareholders. He made it clear in a statement yesterday - I think - that only the banks' customers will be "made whole," while effectively saying "go directly to Hell; do not pass Go; and don't expect to collect a dime, $200, or any other amount" to the execs & shareholders. (Even I suspect that a tiny bit harsh, seeing's how Powell and his Gang of Fed made it all possible!)
"The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of financial panics (particularly the panic of 1907) led to the desire for central control of the monetary system in order to alleviate financial crises" - not to bloody create them!
If the President tries to fix it with an executive order, don’t you think the right wing zealots on the Supreme Court will step in and stop him? They’re the ones that gave us Citizens United , may they rot in the seventh tier of hell.
When Citizens United was enacted I vividly imagined a black cloud forming over our government. I tend to agree with a bumper sticker that basically states, I'll believe a corporation is a person when the courts execute one.
The one I like is when a corporation gets a colonoscopy.
There used to a be a corporate death penalty, and before that they had a fixed lifetime. Probably not a solution as they’d probably just roll the assets into another corporation. But I think it was something like 50 years, the length of an average lifetime at the time. Corporations are people my friends, so they shouldn’t be immortal.
Our system is run by the rich who never go to prison. Risk is carried by the public, and profits are paid to the rich since Glass-Steagall was repealed. Clinton has said this was his worst-ever decision.
GREED is truly the most terrible challenge of our times, and capitalism is its tool, its means to power and more greed.
Greed is a (contagious) mental illness, an unfillable hole, a hunger that denies justice, a brutal expression of broken egos.
Greed is having a million times as much as the poor and still feeling you don't have enough.
Greed consumes the earth without respite, and is a cancer on humanity.
Greed destroys us and our children and their future.
William, you are right about greed. It is also an addiction more powerful than any drug. Few people ever recover because if a person breaks the addiction, it seems to me they won't be able to handle the massive changes from being "ordinary" or unable to order everyone around them to do their biddng.That kind of life has no lure for me and most of the people I know, but it is the dream of a whole lot of people. They don't know what they are asking for and what such greed addiction can do to a person and to the people they encounter. However, there is little accountability when one's greed gets a person the top position those people feel entitled to, and the addicted are OK with that.
Self interest is good and essential for survival of our species. Cooperation is also essential for our human success. Greed is bad because it inhibits cooperation.
People tend to compare themselves only with their peers - hence those in the upper levels are not interested in the lower levels, but do want to know how that other guy in their level managed to get that yacht when they cannot afford it themselves ! They don't see that as greed, merely as 'keeping up with their rightful place in society'. Only fair after all you see !
vcragain, maybe that should be our task, to point out to those at the top as they compete with each other for more and more, that it is greed, pure and simple and it is considered a sin by most religions and cultures.
I'm not positive, but I >think< vcragain's comment, particularly the last line, might have been meant as sarcasm? Sarcasm can be very difficult to discern in print.
@William. It’s OK to disagree. Blocking someone whose comments you do not like reduces your exposure to diverse perspectives, and will blunt your objectivity
Agree absolutely. I will also add a question: How many more times are taxpayers going to tolerate this double standard of fiscal irresponsibility for the wealthy? An ordinary family would not be bailed out if they handled their money like this. They would face financial ruin. Not these guys, though.
By changing what separates the two groups. The trouble is many "ordinary" people want to be be like the bad guys. No matter what criteria you use we all fall into three groups, less than average, average, and above average. SVB made a move of pushing all of its chips to the center of the table. Circumstances changed and they lost. All in never makes sense because you bet the cushion to which you should have used to recover. Greed is always a path to ruin.
Dave, I suspect there will be no penalty for the bank's directors for their bad decision-making and their betrayal of those who entrusted them with their funds. That is usual, but truly unfair and needs to be different in the future.
Dear R.D. -- Respectfully disagree. Having Professor Reich as Secretary of Labor would have done absolutely nothing to avoid this latest financial disaster. Reasonable, experienced voices of dissent have never stopped the corrupt complicit powers-that-be from exploiting their criminal activities to the fullest. And, in the end, those with good intentions in those powers' orbit are tainted by the criminal actions of those who will prevail.
What you say is true why did the wall streeters even bother to repeal any of the banking protection Acts by utilizing their influence over Congress? Has stated before the government should be providing and securing and maintaining guardrails in order to keep the so-called leadership in this country moderated and under control. Any other aspect would be enforcement and penalties which need to be real such that the consequences of bad Acts cost those actors at least twice what their gain was. At present the consequences one weighed against the gain aren't any kind of deterrent.
Some Democrats did indeed cooperate in repealing regulations - of all kinds, but specifically the banking regulations in question recently. Elizabeth Warren states the number of Democrats who voted with Republicans in her March 13 interview on Rachel Maddow's program.
Excellent, and on point. This was where Obama lost me back in 2009. Thus I can only hope that the Biden administration takes on banking regulation with utmost speed and concern. The same, btw, goes for regulating the monopolies.
Not even a question about that, nor an option. However, I remain greatly disillusioned with this current democratic leadership, as well as with the Democrats in general. And, for the life of me, I still cannot understand how a country of 360 million people cannot produce a strong, middle-of-the-road political party which will eliminate the extremism and use the best of both worlds to unite the country. I guess the Divide & Conquer policy still pays off much too well.
We must demand that the Democratic Party be a political party for its supporters and voters, not the DNC for its bankers. We must demand that the Democratic Party stand for principles, not be a cult of personality!
Being greedy costs consumers dearly and will start a contagion of bank failures particularly if the fed does not react by lowering interest rates. The problem is going to get worse unless new laws are enacted to watch those greedy bastards much more closely. I’ve been very worried since the fed started raising rates. I think we are going to see lots and lots of fallout. I hope I’m wrong! You were correct in your assessment of the fed. I hope Yellend and Congress act swiftly and decisively to rectify the Fed’s mistake. Lord help us!
At 6:15 this evening, Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen, Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. Powell, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg announced that Secretary Yellen has signed off on measures to enable the FDIC to fully protect everyone who had money in Silicon Valley Bank, Santa Clara, California, and Signature Bank, New York. They will have access to all of their money starting Monday, March 13. None of the losses associated with this resolution, the statement said, “will be borne by the taxpayer.”
But, it continued, “Shareholders and certain unsecured debtholders will not be protected. Senior management has also been removed. Any losses to the Deposit Insurance Fund to support uninsured depositors will be recovered by a special assessment on banks, as required by law.”
The statement ended by assuring Americans that “the U.S. banking system remains resilient and on a solid foundation, in large part due to reforms that were made after the financial crisis that ensured better safeguards for the banking industry. Those reforms combined with today's actions demonstrate our commitment to take the necessary steps to ensure that depositors' savings remain safe.”
We need to prohibit universities from granting MBA degrees! What kind of person, when confronted with choosing from all of human knowledge at a great university, would opt for a degree in advanced-lemonade-stand? MBAs can't run banks competently, or airlines, or resource extraction, and manufacturing flees from their grasp. Our economic affairs, and beyond, are run by sociopaths. I have read that in other societies more companies are run by engineers than by MBA's...not sure.
Being a retired engineer I strongly agree about MBAs. The basic problem is most MBAs just can't take a long view. That's is an underlying reason for the drop in US manufacturing and the push for high investment returns.
Clinton and Obama both loved banking industry 💸 💰 cash.
Clinton repealed Glass Steagulll.
Obama, via the DOJ run by the revolving door 🚪 guys from Covington and Burling (Eric Holder and Lanny Breuer), failed to prosecute those responsible for the Great Recession.
Now the FDIC, Treasury and Fed serve up another example of "privatize the profits, socialize the risk" and TBTF. If the regulators concluded this bank failure was a "systemic risk" that warranted special treatment, where is the enhanced oversight of such banks 🏦 🤔
Sounds like bank 🏦 management violated investment rule 1: failure to have a diverse portfolio and spread the risk among investment classes.
We did that in the 80's when I worked for the FDIC, during the S & L crisis and the bank meltdowns in the ag and energy states. In the intervening decades, the power of corps, banks and rich folks to influence the policy and enforcement process has grown to the point that in the aftermath of the Great Recession, we held few if any accountable.
Dodd Frank was enacted to curb the abuses that lead to the Great Recession, but much of the goals were left to the need to write regulations to implement Dodd Frank, and the banks and lobbyists buried / stalled / deflected the adoption of those regulations.
The net result of the $$ in the political process to both parties is that Dodd Frank is not enough, the regulations remain weak, the revolving door still spins, the USDOJ political appointees tamp down the prosecutions of the wrong doers, with little or no accountability there is no moral hazard to restrain risky bank conduct and the concept of "equal justice under law" becomes "equal just us under law">
One rule for us (bankers, big corps, etc.) and another set of rules for the rest of you.
TBTF has become TBTJ and also TBTP (P = prosecute). USDOJ uses deferred prosecution agreements (DPA) to spank the hands of those corporate and banking wrongdoers, ever wonder why Wells Fargo is not shut down with it's string of bad conduct ? TBTP and the flow of $$ to inside the beltway. WF is a case study of a repeat offender: each time it gets caught, a DPA is signed in some boardroom somewhere, the bank pays a fine or penalty, the CEO shows up in the hot seat in front of Congress and then goes back to more bad conduct because the culture never changes or the cost / benefit is worth it.
As long as CU is the law and $$ flows into Congress, this system is broke and the prospects to fix it are not good.
I agree with much of your analysis. I too went thru the savings and loan crisis of the 80s and 90s. I would add the govt. Made some serious errors in the application of their receivership plan. They absolute auctioned off assets. The rich just made a killing. Multi-unit buildings went for as low as $5,000.00. I know because I lost some. We settled out of court when I threatened to make new law, by going to a state Supreme Court. Greed goes on until the majority of society gets fed up with the greedy. Then either by laws or a revolt the greedy are forced to see the error of their ways. History teaches this. We just never know how much greed will cause the changes. Nor when the changes will occur.
These problems are caused by the difficulty of presidents to know who are the real experts - they go by what they believe, and trust those they have been told are trustworthy - but that does not make those 'actual facts' - yet that's all there is since nobody expects any president to be a financial expert & the subject is so tricky to manage anyway that a lot of things happen in a "trial & error" way. If previously tried & disastrous maybe that decision is not repeated, but every situation is different & 'experts' disagree over best policies. It's a mystery why so many people aspire to be president at all ! Moral of the story is - if expecting safety for your hard-earned cash, do not expect great interest. Hence mine gets basically ZERO recently !
There are no real experts when it comes to vast amounts of money and profit. It all comes down to people, their opinion, and their ability to increase their own profits and power. That is exactly why we need regulations in industry, no matter what kind.
Well, it's not as if they haven't got a choice, now is it?
Now, if you ask me, these problems are not caused by a lack of experts. They are caused when a bunch of seats on the Fed get filled by grace and favour "expert" appointments, doled out like candy bars to the very bankers who are supposed to be being regulated. If it were me who had the choice, rather than Joe, I'd certainly get them outtathere. And then, I suppose I'd go and look for a proper expert.
Mr Obama made a mistake. He was persuaded to the view that, if regulation is working, it is by definition excessive. Glory be.
Now, some regulation gets put there by trial and error. Like "no smoking" in cinemas, after cinemas go up in flames due to discarded cigarettes. But some regulation is there intuitively, like "no smoking" at gas stations, because gas is inflammable. There is nothing really that intuitive about banking regulation. When banks got set up in the 19th century, what regulation was needed? You deposit your money for safe keeping and, when you need it, you uplift it. Easy. When we run a bath, we regulate the temperature to what we believe will make a pleasant bathing experience. Some hot water, and some cold. We keep an eye on it. We don't wait for the bathtub to overflow before turning the taps off. Mr Obama thought that leaving the taps running would not overflow the bathtub. He was wrong. I don't know if Mr Obama knows how uphill a struggle it is to get proper regulation put in place, but I wish he were the one trying to do it now, the opposite of what he signed into law back when. Perhaps Mr Biden will impart to him what a bloody struggle he has left for the current administration - if they're up to it, even.
It is true that bank management violated the investment rules and the type of bank that SVB was makes it explicable how that came about. The fact is, however, that the regulator knew about the imbalance. Told the bank about the imbalance, and then did nothing. The regulator, whose job it is to tell people to turn off bath taps, let the bathtub overflow. And then turned around to tell all onlookers that everything is just fine.
No, Mr Obama, Mrs Yellen, everything is far from fine. But only because there are one or two people who keep an eye on the bath water despite you.
Heads they win, tails we lose. Fed raises interest rates to slow down job creation because the tight job market is seen as detrimental to Wall St. Rising interest rates make bank investments worth less, so banks overinvested in "safe" investments start to lose money, particularly banks with too many uninsured depositors, who get spooked by the sudden losses, move their uninsured deposits out of bank, causing collapse of bank and another bailout. Everything is set up to protect the wealthy. Tired of having pee trickling down on me.
I’m feeling more and more insecure about the future every day. Inflation, rising interest rates, banks going under possible job losses and a recession down the road all of which could be prevented by the system that is enabling the chaos.
. . . and all of which will be fed to the electorate by certain cynical politicians and populist performers as justification for electing another Trumpist authoritarian to save the country.
Unfortunately, you are quite correct, Mr. Schumacher. Repubbies are always very quick to circulate their twist on the the news and further undermine our confidence in good and decent governance. Don't be fooled by the twist.
The usual solution is a world war, destroying vast amounts of men and material, with the chastened survivors piecing together what’s left. Does that cheer you up?
Agreed Laurie, how to get them done is the question. I had hoped that the Biden Administration would step in and make some changes but sadly few have been made. Now it looks like we are headed for a recession which means that Biden will be a one term president. A Republican will get elected and we will start to see radical change. Not for the good as you know.
Thank you, Professor Reich, for succinctly interweaving all the different dynamics in play. The three things that could move our nation to a more just, honorable, and forward, thinking nation are:
1- Return of the full weight of Glass-Steagall
2- Mandate all campaign funding for elected office be from public not private money
3- End the practices of companies buying back stock, along with banning stock shares as part of executive compensation
With these three things in place, we take away some of the major reasons why big corporations have disproportionate power on legislation and oversight. You take away their payola dance with legislators, and restrict key factors in furthering monopoly capitalism.
Catering to greed does nothing to enhance the continuing of our civilization. Thank you Robert for making this all tangible for us.
I agree with all three of your proposals, but how can they be accomplished with Citizens United lording over all?
Exactly. Citizens United has firmly entrenched big private money into the government. I hope Justice Roberts can’t sleep at night.
Not sleeping at night? With his wife taking millions from these same people?
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/31/us/john-roberts-jane-sullivan-roberts.html
Shar & Rick, I am laughing. Roberts probably gets plenty of sleep at night (unless he is up counting his money and thinking about what he will do for eternity in Heaven while gloating about the folks he thinks are in Hell). He believes he has taken care of himself for life: He and his family are rich beyond most people's dreams and he's a judge (OK not a good one, but a judge), he has a job for life where he can say and do anything and still remain employed and in power, he has bought his way into Heaven with his abortion ruling and his opposition to same-sex marriage (I bet he is on board with the bans on birth control that Thomas, another justice trying to get into Heaven is up for). He also gets to satisfy his racist tendencies when he and his conservative buddies put down affirmative action this summer (one of the hopes for advancement that people of color in this country have). Yep, Johnny Roberts is doing just fine even if he shouldn't be.
There's an old maxim that I would like to apply here Ruth, 'Easy come, Easy Go', and as we are seeing the machinations of humans and people like Roberts et al can and will be easily undone....takes a while but it happens.
Once saw a wise comment from a street artist - Greed breeds mean deeds.
Ruth, I personally believe we make a hell on Earth in more than one way, for instance, right in our own mind. That's a pretty tough task master. I only hope as the years wear on that what exists of a mind gets more and more crowded and guilt ridden with his paid-off miss deeds.
I wish there were such a thing as a bill that could force those who are against abortion or paying for birth control would be likewise forced to adopt all the unwanted children made from this mess. That would stop the whole thing in its tracks real fast.
Who is 'miss deeds'? :)
Prof Reich was a painful read, but you're brutal name dropping is downright brutal. Of coursr totally on the money excuse the expression.
Ever wonder why the Banksters want everyone in on Crypto-currency?
It's much easier to steal larger quantities trading your cash for 0's and 1's in the matrix with the push of a button! Shades of Willie Sutton on steroids!
Caveat Emperor, anyone?
Good point, Boom Boom.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2023/01/31/chief-justice-roberts-wife-is-latest-supreme-court-spouse-to-spark-ethics-concerns/?sh=22be518d5bb8
Fink, Hooley and Buckley of Vanguard, State Street and Blackrock just tucked away billions for their financial services and investment funds... Clinton signed away Glass-Steagull in the Telecommunications Act, Trump Dodd-Frank. Same old con: the rich get richer!
The Italian word for stomach is Panza. When the Hogs [Banksters] come to the trough to feed, they get extremely fat,; ergo the inevitable "Panza scheme"!
thanks go figure since Medici basically invented modern banking
Ahhh yes! The Medici's. The name itself a play on words. Me-dici......translation; Me, you say?
Just the perfect amount of self effacing narcissistic praise for ones self!
Sounds like Wall street to me-dici.........
why wouldn't he sleep at night? his handlers are really pleased with his performance. obviously he has no ethics
as an 'Umpire'
'Dread Pirate' Roberts
ranks right 'up' there with
the Chicago BlackSox. which
is to say chief JUST Us! Roberts sux.
He apparently enjoys sleeping with one of the people responsible for this!
HAHAHA! He sleeps like the spoiled white privileged "baby" he is! Rosemary's Baby.
Evil incarnate.
I hope the enablers who helped Robert's and his corrupt fellow GOPpers take over the Supreme Court, eventually wise up as to cause and effect resulting from whom they vote for. Not real optimistic about that.
Don't hold your breath! They already own SCOTUS with the 6-3 Konservative Kangaroo Kourt Jester ratio in place, to the remaining 3 Progressive justices.
If JB grows a set and expands the playing field to at least 6-6, we'd have a fighting chance. For the moment, think SCUBA.
like a baby he does
Gloria, we the people, after being educated by Professor Reich and HCR, must demand coverage of this with facts from our so called media outlets.
No more allowing liars to blather into the wind.
That includes the NYT, The Wash.Post, and all other media giants who are playing with facts to meet their corporate owners’s greed.
Quit buying all newspapers that fiddle with facts. Get bold and demand truth.
And get in the streets to overturn “Citizens divided”!!!! Bastards.
Even we “the people” know when the screw has turned too far!
Spot on
And once that screw has been overturned, Citizens United get rich while We the People get screwed.
Gloria, I am with you, how are We the People going to make those three goals happen? I suspect we will not be able to get any of them done at least until 2025 unless we can get a different more decent Speaker of the House. We can plan, though for a winning election in 2024 and set out the kinds of priorities we have including increasing the size of the Supreme Court with good, non-partisan justices who care about our Constitution more than their own personal ideology and the money they and their families are pulling in from corporations and PACs. Then we need to get regulations in line with what is needed to protect us all from corporate greed and recession. Then there is election reform, accepting only public money and money from private individuals of no more than $2,000. We need legislation to stop gerrymandering for any reason, and to be sure that every citizen who turns 18 years old is automatically registered to vote and their vote cannot be denied for any reason, just as the Constitution says. There are no limits listed. Those would be a good start to end some of the corruption.
Hi Ruth, we could be doing that right now if Garland and Biden would have prosecuted about 206 GOP insurrectionist and not allowed them to take over the Congress and left them in charge of the supreme Court. If we can make it through this crazy Congress by raising the debt ceiling and not rigging the elections we might have a chance. All these Trump supporters will be told it was all Biden's fault and they will of course choose to believe it cuz that's what they do, if it feels good to them, they believe it. We will know by the end of June. I agree with you. It is tough to do battle with an insane enemy who has deep pockets.
Thanks for mentioning that $2000 limit, Ruth. The was in place through the 2008 election. It needs to be reinstated, This crap of billions of dollars pouring into the already wealthy media, to elect dishonorable politicians has to end.
pitchforks?
Absolutely. "They've got the guns but we've got the numbers".
Only if we all GOTV!
Yep, I remember the same article as well........https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-pitchforks-are-coming-for-us-plutocrats-108014/
Everybody I talk to on both sides hates citizens united and wants to end lobbyist. So why can't we? I mean everyone. Does any one out here know of someone that likes the lobbyist system we have. If so post it.
it would take a constitutional amendment to get rid of citizens united. it will never be abolished by congress, because the repugnants and corporate dems are bought and paid for by the plutocrats and corporations. so it is essentially not doable.
Nothing will change without ending the filibuster and expanding the Disgraced Roberts Court with it’s 2 illegitimate justices and its 2 other sexual abusers legislating from the bench. Unfortunately, such a change in our rollback to pre-Civil War Constitutional principles will require a Great Depression like calamity.
Never Fear, the Lemming Caucus now in control of the House may cause such an event by defaulting on the U.S. debt.
OUR Constitution actually does NOT say that Supreme Court Justices have "Lifetime Appointments", rather it says that the justices can keep their position with "good behavior". Based on your description of some of these justices, their behavior is anything, but "good". Why have we all been bamboozled to believe the lie of "lifetime appointments"? The MONEY knows that the Supreme Court is their last bastion to protect them in their current hierarchy and wealth. And so, it is. More justices are NOT the solution. TERM LIMITS certainly is. An enacted "Code of Ethics" as ALL of the judges in other courts MUST adhere to certainly is. We MUST bring "justice for ALL" into the body of the Supreme Court.
must have something to do with that "no sitting president can be prosecuted" thing that the justice dept made up decades ago (in response to another corrupt pres.) oh well.
we just aren't vigilant enough, i guess. what working family man or woman has the time to critically keep track of all the legal shenanigans that are foisted on us?
Voters can change if they will unite. Set aside identity politics, i don't see voters aligning in that area, but large numbers of red and blue voters are aligning around issues like $15min wage, higher taxes on the rich, heatlh care etc...
BS. Republicans in the House only support identity politics. Issues be damned.
DS - Then you don't understand voters very well. Republicans in the house don't represent Republican voters any more than Democrats in the house who oppose M4A represent Democratic voters.
Elected Dems and GOP refuse to even vote on issues that Americans want because it will jeopardize their donor base....Not my opinion... Read Reich's own writing.
That's idiotic. 99% of Republicans in the House are true believers in cultural issues..
Sounds like you're writing from Vladivostok.
that is because never again mean do it again we need to support women totally and if a few men get hit along the way well we just need to end this women abuse
Gloria, Some decent, honest politicians could write new legislation nullifying Citizens United, our job is top find those decent politicians and encourage them to act.
sorry that won't work. The supreme court ruled that means it takes a constitutional amendment to change it now or new supreme court with enough guts good luck on either.
Thanks, that is bad news. But there may still be a way to write new legislation that, at least temporarily undoes Citizens United. If it were up to the majority of people in the US, it would be a slam dunk that only real living, breathing, Homo sapiens are people and corporations being paper (or even digital) entities are not real. But the republicans have the bit in their teeth (and the money in their pockets) so they'd never let it pass.
right
Thank you also for your intelligent thoughts on this subject. The greed in this country on the part of the people who least need the money is reprehensible. It really is.
My own greed isn't that great, either, and I'm ~ near the top of the second (from the bottom!) quintile of wealth. I'm ok, until the stock market eats my pension and Social Security is driven down. I think maybe greed, and other forms of insecurity and agressiveness, stem from fear of death, etc. (fears of starvation and homelessness get one's attention, too, yes?). How we might tamp down greed -- until the aliens visit and presto! reform our dog-eat-dog consciousness -- is a challenging question.
I'm sure the reason for people's greed is as varied as people themselves. I've never had money. I'm probably one tier down from you. I don't begrudge anyone who legally earns their money. But there are really poor people in this country, also for a variety of reasons. I have a lot of empathy for others. Idk. You are probably right about the aliens. 🙁
Geoff Merrill ; The aliens may be worse!
BC : The Greedheads want to continue to be able to buy seats in Government, and enjoy dynastic wealth and power. That means billions even trllions $$$
The elections aren't rigged; the economy is!
Vote Republican; rig the economy.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/bernie-sanders-says-silicon-valley-bank-s-failure-is-the-direct-result-of-a-trump-era-bank-regulation-policy/ar-AA18y3Th
Trump ADMITS he removed Dodd Frank controls that would have stopped the bank collapse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVDbToV8n50
Wow, Don Jr. is trumpeting that there were no bank failures under his dad.
And Eric is reportedly traveling the country with an avowed anti-Semitic fascist, unabashed and public for violence and hatred as cash cows, passing the red hat for money, money, money from those who are also part of the violence and hatred vision of America as fascist hell.
What a bitter disappointment the milquetoast Merrick Garland is. Monsters move among us at will, spreading the destruction of our country and Mr. Garland waits for the warrior Fani Willis to do his job or for Alvin Bragg and Letitia James to kind of maybe do his job. It was violent, murderous mobs threatening to overthrow OUR government and their Dear Leader(s) are out making speeches, making recordings, selling merchandise ....
President Biden has left so much of Trump's fascist/plutocratic/corporate-oligarchic appointed cult in place: Louis DeJoy, Jerome Powell, chief among them. Why are we still experiencing the Trump Crime Syndicate's take-over of our government when Biden has been in office for going on three years?!
Rule of law. Without fear or favor.
My foot.
Even Constitutional law experts (Lawrence Tribe, Andrew Weissman, Neal Katyal, Joyce Vance, Jamie Raskin, Adam Schiff, Barbara McQuaid, et al. et al. ) say publicly that it is beyond belief or understanding that DOJ has effectively done nothing about the coup. The coup continues! The monsters hold rallies and receive money!!! Why??!!
The Dems are just as responsible for rigging the economy as the GOP...
To the extent that Manchins and Sinemas of the world have run and been elected as Democrats, or more progressive candidates have lost elections, or have been just, plain politically inept you're right. And don't even get me started on what's happening in the states! But they're not what Democrats represent. It would be naive to buy the typical claim of moral equivalency between the two parties, which you seemingly imply, and that I shall not suffer. For example, Democrats >did not< seat 6 of the SCOTUS justices - and >that< clearly demonstrates the Republicans' collective attitude toward most US citizenry. The louder the Republicans claim to speak for some half-assed moral majority, the more that party represents the avarice of complete, self-serving scoundrels, who care nothing for the kind of society their policies engender, or the people who are crushed under the weight of its err.
Here's a lesson in PoliSci 101 for you:
Generally speaking:
Republicans believe in laissez-faire, dog-eat-dog capitalism. They represent the very rich, and support economic measures that benefit the rich. Their posturing as in some way hard-working and/or morally superior is their campaign fraud, calculated to dupe the gullible in the lower social strata into supporting their politicians and policies. They believe in the entitlement of wealth, only believe in human rights for citizens commensurate with their ability to buy them, and portray social safety-nets as entitlements for undeserving parasites. They believe in law enforcement and national defense only to the extent that it's there to protect them and their stuff. Notice I didn't include religious righteousness - a key component of their political fraud designed to elicit the support of those who >haven't a clue< what the savior they would have us all believe they worship was about.
By contrast, Democrats believe in well-regulated business practices, social services and public works designed to serve the greatest number of US citizens, that human rights are the entitlements guaranteed under the Constitution to >all< US citizens, a progressive income tax indexed on the taxpayers' ability to pay, where spending in support of achieving those aims are the cost of doing the country's business. That includes law enforcement whose main job is to enforce law designed to maintain order by protecting the citizenry's ability to enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, while ensuring that national defense guarantees these United States are not threatened by hostile international or domestic actors.
As for any claims to the contrary, see the point concerning election fraud. Period.
DZK
I would not strongly argue with your depiction of most GOP elected officials. Where you fail the 'critical thinking' test is in your failure to point to Democratic elected officials leaning just as hard as GOP officials in policy that helps the donor class while harming the working class and poor.
Example: The Obama administration chose to bail out banks, the leadership of those banks and share holders after the 2008 economic crash, while turning their backs on home owners. That as not GOP law makers that was Obama with full control of the house and senate.
Example: Dems has the house and senate and passed the ACA and not Mediare for all or even a Public Option.
Example: Bill Clinton signed the bill that allowed Banks to take wild speculation knowing tax payers would be required to bail them out. Glass Steagal
Example: Joe Biden said he would not sign Medicare for All even if the house and senate passed it.
I could go on but the evidence is irrefutable. Dem law makers are as controlled by the donor class the GOP... FULL STOP
I'm >absolutely certain< I mentioned the Manchins & Sinemas of the world winning seats as Democrats. I also mention losing elections - primary's mainly. Hell! Ol' Tweety is proof that can happen. Also, I cite ineptitude of Democrats. That's with regard to political negotiation, which I confess I didn't clarify. What the Democrats stand for isn't necessarily reflected by those elected as Democrats - who aren't really Democrats, or who are ineffective at achieving Democratic objectives, or just, plain outnumbered.. Besides, you massively overlook political negotiations involved with getting >any< legislation passed - a falsehood by omission. I might cite critical reading here.
DZK- Your description of GOP elected officials was hyperbolic but directionally accurate. You can stand by it but it reveals a hyperpartisan intellectual weakness. But feel free to stand by it.
I did not "over look" political negotiations. All politics is negotiations.
Most GOP voters do not support tax cuts to the rich. But GOP leadership was easily able to get more than enough votes to please the donor class.
The Dems could have chosen not to bail out Bank Executives and bank share holders and they could have provided help to the home owners. Both would have been better for the economy and voters would have approved. They chose to help the donor class.
Both parties serve the donor class over the poor and middle class. Deal with it.
BS.
You summed it up nicely.
Bernie for President.
There couldn't be a more propitious time.
Sadly, Bernies time has come and gone. How about Elizabeth Warren?
Since you mention Elizabeth Warren, she has a column in the NYT about this subject: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/opinion/elizabeth-warren-silicon-valley-bank.html?smid=url-share
She tried to prevent this foreseeable calamity.
Agree, she's dead on.
Cathlynn Groh : She can be veep. If Bernie becomes incapable because of health/age, she would be able to ' take the reins '.or her student: Katie Porter.
Don't agree. The DNC wasn't ready in 2016 and 2020, the people were. I don't care that Bernie is 80 years old. Like he says: "I know people who are 90 who are sharper than most people who are 40."
I would love to see President Elizabeth Warren, but I fear most people regard her as a phony. Unfortunately, I don't think she's electable.
If Biden decides not to run, Bernie will be the ideal candidate. We need not just a caretaker for a capitalism that has gone off the rails, but someone who could really make America into Denmark plus Route 66.
Elizabeth Warren is the epitome of “not phony”. What she is is a “woman” oh my god, America couldn’t elect a woman! A woman might want to regulate immature baby boys into a sensible mature plan that helps them learn to share!!
I’d better go back to bed ... I am losing it!🥴🤣😂
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I didn't say I thought she was a phony, As I said, she will have difficulties with the general voter.
I apologize for making it sound like you said that. I know you said “ people regard her as a phony”! Well once “people “ see that in writing it will be used again as a “truth”!
Michael, I am sending back all your “o’s”!🤗🥰👏🏻
I just posted we need to fully support women so never again really means never again and think that is a little over half the population so half of discrimination is gone with equality for women
The republicans run demonization programs for years against strong, intelligent women and it's been effective. They did it against Hillary and Warren and are now doing it against Harris.
With the help of Russian trolls, bots, disinformation and misinformation. Russians hack hack away at our brains through social media- Twitter FB Insta TikTok etc.
You are correct about the Republicans' treatment of women and that includes Republican WOMEN'S treatment of women and, I might add, Hillary Clinton's own treatment of women, at least those with whom Bill had liaisons. That said, plenty of pretty terrific Democrats are not great fans of Hillary Clinton or Kamala Harris. Elizabeth Warren though? YEAH!
Clinton persuaded the popular Warren out of the 2016 competition and, unfortunately, Warren complied. These are different times and the stakes for America seem pretty dire. I think Elizabeth Warren and a great running mate hell-bent on reform and progress, communicating great vision and hope, could turn this ragged ship of state around.
If "people regard her as a phony" they need to be confronted. That is just balderdash that has been promulgated by fear of her (and Bernie) because her intelligence and highly informed analysis present a threat to their very lucrative and corrupt status quo. Elizabeth Warren is one smart cookie and one with a moral compass! (probably not a good dessert but a great leader!)
Elizabeth Warren and Sheldon Whitehouse or Jason Crow or Bernie Sanders or ....
Good lord NO. No more Bernie. Please look up his voting in the senate AND the things he constantly says the country needs to do, but that he hasn't gotten done in VT. NO MORE BERNIE.
how about Bob he makes more sense than most especially for an intellectual.
well except for 2016 and 2020
This is all fine regarding US banks, but there's a more global component I don't hear being discussed in the US conversation that DW brings up. It's not only US banks holding those securities that have gone flat because of Fed policy: https://youtu.be/a0Ilm230bf8
BBC: https://youtu.be/NHN_NBcU7dw
ABC (Australia): https://youtu.be/P0orZEZ0b2I
On the other hand 1 year CD's are at 5.35% this morning.
Can borrow at 1% in Japan, Switzerland, etc and buy US notes and bonds at 8%. A real deal -- for foreigners.
DZK ; It's one more factor. I would wonder what those banks/investors would think of this 'going flat?'
I'm not one of those people, so I'm just munchin' popcorn and armchair quarterbacking - for the moment. Ask me again in 6 months!
DZK ; Hahaha!
DZK ; "Been down so long it looks like up to me".
DZK - to paraphrase what you just said: "I'm SO LOW, I HAVE to reach
UP to TOUCH bottom ~ ~ ~ ". lol (?)
Civilization. In a story carried here in Belgium today, we read the words of a lawyer for the victim whose death, according to the charges, was procured as he underwent a student hazing ritual. As counsel watches the defendants file past him in their Sunday finery along a courtroom corridor, he says to the reporter: "Beschaving is een flinterdun laagje vernis." Civilization is a wafer-thin covering of varnish.
You can view that as cynical, or as truthful. Top-down, when you have revealed to you the rot that lies beneath the varnish, it seems wafer-thin. But, bottom-up, the effort needed to impose that wafer-thin layer, you'd think it were elephant hide.
I just came across these, and something about your comment moved me to share them with you. Enjoy! LOL!
https://youtu.be/JW50-YruRuA
https://youtu.be/0YkQn0sVnKE
We are all going to die, very true. However there is meaning to life. It is to perpetuate the species, that is the only meaning. Nature has provided us the means to do it. Nature screwed up in one way, it allowed this thing we call intelligence to develop and intelligence gives us ways to destroy the species.
Nice, thoughtful response. I almost hate to tell you that it's gallows humor, the likes of which one can find among Slavic people - having a Polish-Ukrainian ancestry, myself! The person I responded to provided a little cynical humor in Belgian shortly after I came across these two links. I thought it hysterically funny that the first time I've ever come across anything from someone wanting to teach us all a little Polish, these should be what he presents! I thought it even funnier to respond to a little cynical Belgian humor from the courtroom with a little Polish humor from the gallows. LOL! Note his response to the links. He got the joke.
Polish isn't one of my languages. But it soon will be, now I know the essentials.
👍👍😁
The problem is that we have the fox guarding the Hen house! This tactic was clearly employed by Trump in agencies and in the courts! The ONLY solution, is COLLECTIVE action by the lower 99%, or 90, 0r 85% (etc) to pass this, or any other legislation that challenges the power of the plutocrats that use their wealth as power, via ballot initiative/referendum. But to do this, we would have to believe what our eyes are showing us. This is a prime example of who really has the power, and it's not the majority!
Some good points, Todd.
I would add that certain punishment for these oligarchs and manipulators should also be in place.
Excellent points! Execution compensation is sucking all profits while the working people are working for pennies on the dollar. The disparity in wages is breaking down our entire society, every fabric of the democracy demands a certain level of equality! Without that we cannot survive as a democracy
Sadly, the Supreme Court has effectively declared #2 unconstitutional. Money is deemed political speech. And a Constitutional amendmnt of any kind will never pass.
WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! It's all about WOKE! LOL! : https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/gop-house-oversight-chairman-james-comer-criticizes-silicon-valley-bank-as-one-of-the-most-woke-banks/ar-AA18yfoT
A LATER UPDATE: https://youtu.be/G1Z4l2bnw4Q I found out about this years ago when I asked him what he meant by Democrats being a "give away!"
Best laugh I've had all day! What utter BS.
If you liked that, you'll just love this: https://youtu.be/G1Z4l2bnw4Q
(I updated the comment you replied to, but I thought I'd speak directly to you with this.)
Not all of them. Mr Reich hasn't interwoven all of the dynamics.
The responses to the posit boil down to "Those with responsibility aren't taking their responsibilities responsibly." Followed by various reasons why that should be. "Because they're greedy."
I'm greedy. Place me in front of a half pound of cashews and tell me I can eat as many as I please. I happen to like cashew nuts. It's the soft hardness that I like. And the taste. And lots of salt. How many will I eat? One? No, not one. A handful? Closer, but no, not a handful. Unchecked, I will scoff the lot. The whole half pound. And I will root around at the bottom of the container and secretly question, "Is that all?" The core operative word here is "unchecked". The wise never say "Eat as many as you please" but rather "Please have some."
So, why do things go unchecked? Until, that is, someone discovers the discarded container with a few grains of salt, after the fact? It is this dynamic which Mr Reich leaves un-interwoven but which is fundamental to the whole sorry issue of abuse by those with responsibility of their responsibilities.
Why do systems that seem to work only in part, or superficially or, casus extremis, not at all or even, dare I say it, counter-intuitively, have that effect? Like AML that functions so as to permit money-laundering? Or the swearing of oaths that is a preface to a string of lies. Don't libraries realise that it's not a compact to return library books that ensures library books are returned? It's the borrower's appreciation of what a lending library even is that procures the books' return.
So, the answer may seem to lie in enforcement. What use a system whose goal is not achieved through a lack of enforcement? An old wisdom of mine says that there is no such thing as a bad waiter. There are only bad maître d's. Mrs Yellen is a maître d'. She has in her charge a system of regulation that should ensure that banking disasters don't occur or, if they do, occur where they could not but occur. That system failed. And its resolution is followed swiftly by bland statements that "everything is fine".
The banking regulator needs to know a lot about banking. But it did not take any interest in the investment by an ordinary bank in an ordinary bond issue that had the effect of deteriorating the bank's liquidity over an extended period of several months. This is like a maître d' who stands by and watches as, over several months, a waiter regularly drops plates of food in diners' laps.
Remedying this should be simple childhood arithmetic: get regulators who regulate. Because a bad waiter will never improve until they are forced to learn how to carry a plate of food from the kitchen to the table. It should not be beyond the wit of a waiter to do that. And it should not be beyond the wit of a bank regulator to ensure that an investment in sovereign debt doesn't make the bank go belly-up. But it is.
We advocate leniency on wrongdoers essentially because we don't want to be handled unfairly if we ever find ourselves in the dock. It is striving for equanimity and fairness that results in acts of unfairness going unchecked. We could give the Fed politically motivated, draconian power to step in and wrest control of how banking is done. But, we don't want to appear overweening. So, because the Fed is there for the industry, it works for the industry and, in that, neglects the industry's customers. And then tells them that - everything is all right.
It wasn't my money. Everything IS all right.
GV - Your reasoning is flawed. As long as banks are able to hire regulators who play ball when they want to leave the government and pay "maitre d's" like Yellen $100K a pop to make a speech infront of their execs then we don't really have regulation. We have what is known in economic terms as "regulatory capture"
Reich is well documented in fighting "regulatory capture". The solution is easy. The challenge is getting it implemented. It's not quite a bag of cashews, more like public policy.
I won't revert to the analogy. I think we both think the same thing. The regulators are not regulating as they should. I didn't mean to miscall Mr Reich. Sorry Bob.
Agreed. But how do we get there?
Big changes is never easy. Womans right to vote, forming labor unions, black civil rights all took massive amounts of effort, organizing and sacrifice on behalf of voters. Law makers will do nothing until voters fight to force law makers to take action.
Step #1 for voters. Don't vote for law makers in your own party, during primaries, that take funding from large corporations. The more we do this the more power we will have over law makers. Make it a habit.
Step #2 for voters. Join organizations and get organized. It almost does not matter what organization you join. But join. We have to get organized.
Good summary... totally agree... While reverting to the pre 1982 law banning stock buy backs i would also institute the pre 1982 tax cuts that has max tax at 70% of income over a certain amount. It would kill the incentive for CEO's to lavish massive salaires and bonuses on themselves by eeking out short term profits rather than investing in the future of the company and emplyees.
i think glass-steagall must be reinstated. but then, i'm a person whose funds are few and fleeting. the last thing i (and millions like me) need is to make our funds even fewer and more fleeting. otherwise, what's the point of working when all your funds and many of your assets can disappear forever into a wealthy elite's portfolio?
The opposite of risk is certainty. What Wall Street does to Main Street is the introduction of banking as a casino where the house odds are disguised. Why do people -who wish simply a predictability that their unspent earnings of today can be retrieved tomorrow-tolerate being forced to play at the table, with rules that are foreign to them? Who's watching out for the Average Joe?
Girl Scientist, the corporate rich don't care about any of us no matter how much we work. It is their addiction to money and power that drives nearly everything they do and we are just the little people who get in the way of what they want. They have forgotten that we the people are the workers that generate the wealth. So many of the banks are so far removed from the people is it a disgrace. Many banks don't even keep mortgages and loans anymore but sell them at a discount to other entities. The larger and mid-sized banks are no longer even really part of the communities where they exist. People do their regular banking there, but the bank does not invest in the community. Then, there's the Fed . . . .
Ruth, re your summation of 'the rich' = I recently came across a = blurb - from Bill Gates (super rich rounder of MicroSoft here in/near Seattle) who (pretty much said) 'It's not worth - giving up my '(s)lavish' lifestyle to/for/because of - climate change (while getting ready to
fly off in his private jet spewing/leaving behind jet trails of - ?) [huge sigh - cough cough]
which pretty much sums up the - "lifestyles of the rich and famous" (at least mostly ~)
Sir Thomas More achieved sainthood, and that's never achieved easily. In the play about his demise (A Man For All Seasons), he has the following exchange as he dismisses his servant because his dispute with the king has rendered him penniless:
- I shall miss you, Matthew.
- No-o-o. You never had much time for me, sir. You see through me, sir, I know that.
- I shall miss you, Matthew; I shall miss you.
In another scene, Norfolk argues with Cromwell, who wants to pin a bribe on More:
- Goddammit he was the only judge since Cato who didn't accept bribes. When was there last a Chancellor whose possessions after three years in office totalled one hundred pounds and a gold chain.
That's the price of sainthood: one hundred pounds and a gold chain. I like the ring of "Saint Chase Manhattan." I wonder if there will ever be a banking executive who is canonised?
GrrlScientist ; The point of working is to keep a roof over one's head and meals on the table, among other things, like healthcare.
Glass-Steagall worked. There was never a sound reason to repeal it. Of course it should be reinstated because Wall Street will always eat Main Street’s lunch if you let it. Banks should not gamble with other people’s money -- or homes. Flesh and blood citizens are made to pay the price of bad behavior by fiduciaries acting contrary to the interests of their clients. Reinstating Glass-Steagall is the best solution.
Glass-Steagall Act should be reinstated, and all other deregulations instated during the trump's should be nullified. Problem is how? We have the Senate, but the House has a spineless speaker, puppeteered by the MAGA right-wingers, whose purpose is to go to the bottom of Hunter's laptop and whether the SARS-COV 2 was leaked or not, aside from other "very important" legislative agenda, while the country is crumbling. We need competent people like Bernie Sanders and Dr. Reich in power, more than ever!
The President should use executive powers to protect taxpayers from being bilked again: if at all possible. They wage war against the human beings (that would be US). The fact that it has happened recently, and criminals have been allowed into our government because of poor vetting of candidates is our downfall.
Ironic, don'cha think, that when the Fed decided to try driving wage gains down, claiming the economy was "overheating," its increased interest rates only succeeded in causing banks to collapse ‽ Hell! Hire me as Fed chair. I could do at least as well and I'm a damn moron! LOL!
At least I just happen to understand the law of unintended consequence.
DZK, I'd vote for you! I can't stand Powell's smug attitude as though he is so smart and the rest of us know nothing. I don't understand what is going on with the rest of the Fed board. Are they less than "morons?" How is it they couldn't have seen what would happen when interest rates went up so quickly when the economy is thriving and people are working? Republicans are really into deregulation as long as they are raking in the bucks with impunity but they want no interference with their personal "free markets," that is until there is a problem. They prefer to blame everyone else and that usually works for them. This time, a whole lot of those guys who want no regulations are getting hurt and again, we will take care of them and the Fed will continue as usual under Powell in his ignorance.
Well stated! Seems Powell cannot/will not learn from his many mistakes. I, too, wonder about the rest on the Fed board. It seems some economists never learn from history or experience. Not only is it sad and too bad—it destroys/harms so many lives, but rarely the super rich.
Taking Biden's part, last I heard he's effectively issued a "burn notice" on the bank execs & shareholders. He made it clear in a statement yesterday - I think - that only the banks' customers will be "made whole," while effectively saying "go directly to Hell; do not pass Go; and don't expect to collect a dime, $200, or any other amount" to the execs & shareholders. (Even I suspect that a tiny bit harsh, seeing's how Powell and his Gang of Fed made it all possible!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve
"The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of financial panics (particularly the panic of 1907) led to the desire for central control of the monetary system in order to alleviate financial crises" - not to bloody create them!
I believe you've got the problem >completely< surrounded!
Yeah…time to put us damn morons in charge!
Dell Erwin: probably be an improvement, as long as they consult Robert Reich's notes.
Dell Erwin ; Intent has as much to do with it as education.
DZK ; It's obvious that holding a degree, or even 2 or 3, does not keep one from being a moron. But I don't think you are a moron, DZK!
If the President tries to fix it with an executive order, don’t you think the right wing zealots on the Supreme Court will step in and stop him? They’re the ones that gave us Citizens United , may they rot in the seventh tier of hell.
When Citizens United was enacted I vividly imagined a black cloud forming over our government. I tend to agree with a bumper sticker that basically states, I'll believe a corporation is a person when the courts execute one.
Magras: Or put the 'corporate person' in jail! Give 'em 50 lashes! Not eyelashes!
The one I like is when a corporation gets a colonoscopy.
There used to a be a corporate death penalty, and before that they had a fixed lifetime. Probably not a solution as they’d probably just roll the assets into another corporation. But I think it was something like 50 years, the length of an average lifetime at the time. Corporations are people my friends, so they shouldn’t be immortal.
Yes! I keep saying the true loss in '16 wasn't ol' Tweety. It was the SCOTUS.
Actually both, to be sincere :-)
MooGoo: well said!
Haven’t heard him called ole Tweety. Perfect.
we don’t have the Senate. Manchin and Sinema will block any meaningful reform
I forgot about the two hyenas :-) So, then Joe Biden will pull several executive orders :-) (i.e. drilling in Alaska, anyone?).
U ass
Our system is run by the rich who never go to prison. Risk is carried by the public, and profits are paid to the rich since Glass-Steagall was repealed. Clinton has said this was his worst-ever decision.
GREED is truly the most terrible challenge of our times, and capitalism is its tool, its means to power and more greed.
Greed is a (contagious) mental illness, an unfillable hole, a hunger that denies justice, a brutal expression of broken egos.
Greed is having a million times as much as the poor and still feeling you don't have enough.
Greed consumes the earth without respite, and is a cancer on humanity.
Greed destroys us and our children and their future.
Greed is death.
William, you are right about greed. It is also an addiction more powerful than any drug. Few people ever recover because if a person breaks the addiction, it seems to me they won't be able to handle the massive changes from being "ordinary" or unable to order everyone around them to do their biddng.That kind of life has no lure for me and most of the people I know, but it is the dream of a whole lot of people. They don't know what they are asking for and what such greed addiction can do to a person and to the people they encounter. However, there is little accountability when one's greed gets a person the top position those people feel entitled to, and the addicted are OK with that.
Self interest is good and essential for survival of our species. Cooperation is also essential for our human success. Greed is bad because it inhibits cooperation.
People tend to compare themselves only with their peers - hence those in the upper levels are not interested in the lower levels, but do want to know how that other guy in their level managed to get that yacht when they cannot afford it themselves ! They don't see that as greed, merely as 'keeping up with their rightful place in society'. Only fair after all you see !
vcragain, maybe that should be our task, to point out to those at the top as they compete with each other for more and more, that it is greed, pure and simple and it is considered a sin by most religions and cultures.
Sophistry. Bullshit. Bite me. How do I block you?
I'm not positive, but I >think< vcragain's comment, particularly the last line, might have been meant as sarcasm? Sarcasm can be very difficult to discern in print.
Definitely not sarcasm.
I use <rant> and <sarcasm> tags. And apparently there is no way to block a person here.
Read vcagai's comment out loud. I believe he is correct.
@William. It’s OK to disagree. Blocking someone whose comments you do not like reduces your exposure to diverse perspectives, and will blunt your objectivity
The LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL.
Agree absolutely. I will also add a question: How many more times are taxpayers going to tolerate this double standard of fiscal irresponsibility for the wealthy? An ordinary family would not be bailed out if they handled their money like this. They would face financial ruin. Not these guys, though.
By changing what separates the two groups. The trouble is many "ordinary" people want to be be like the bad guys. No matter what criteria you use we all fall into three groups, less than average, average, and above average. SVB made a move of pushing all of its chips to the center of the table. Circumstances changed and they lost. All in never makes sense because you bet the cushion to which you should have used to recover. Greed is always a path to ruin.
2 groups.
99% of taxpayers lose every time when Republicans impose tax policy, but Republican voters are snowed by cultural issues.
Dave, I suspect there will be no penalty for the bank's directors for their bad decision-making and their betrayal of those who entrusted them with their funds. That is usual, but truly unfair and needs to be different in the future.
What do we think?
We think you should re-think Bernie Sanders' suggestion.
As Secretary of Labor working with the Secretary of Commerce, we will be in good hands--secure ones. Competent ones.
Thanks for this informative post, Robert Reich.
~R.
Dear R.D. -- Respectfully disagree. Having Professor Reich as Secretary of Labor would have done absolutely nothing to avoid this latest financial disaster. Reasonable, experienced voices of dissent have never stopped the corrupt complicit powers-that-be from exploiting their criminal activities to the fullest. And, in the end, those with good intentions in those powers' orbit are tainted by the criminal actions of those who will prevail.
What you say is true why did the wall streeters even bother to repeal any of the banking protection Acts by utilizing their influence over Congress? Has stated before the government should be providing and securing and maintaining guardrails in order to keep the so-called leadership in this country moderated and under control. Any other aspect would be enforcement and penalties which need to be real such that the consequences of bad Acts cost those actors at least twice what their gain was. At present the consequences one weighed against the gain aren't any kind of deterrent.
"You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you,
Until the day that we don't need you -
Don't go for help... no one will heed you.
Your mind is totally controlled,
It has been stuffed into my mold,
And you will do as you are told,
Until the rights to you are sold"
So, Zappa didn't sing specifically about our Big Bank Deregulation Ponzi Scheme, but it fits…
De
Republicans de-regulate
Democrats co-operate
Predictable conclusion
From all this collusion
Trains de-railing
Banks failing
.
Democrats DID NOT cooperate.
Some Democrats did indeed cooperate in repealing regulations - of all kinds, but specifically the banking regulations in question recently. Elizabeth Warren states the number of Democrats who voted with Republicans in her March 13 interview on Rachel Maddow's program.
Excellent, and on point. This was where Obama lost me back in 2009. Thus I can only hope that the Biden administration takes on banking regulation with utmost speed and concern. The same, btw, goes for regulating the monopolies.
I agree about Obama but we get stuck in a dilemma. Who ya gonna vote for? The republicans always offer worse.
Not even a question about that, nor an option. However, I remain greatly disillusioned with this current democratic leadership, as well as with the Democrats in general. And, for the life of me, I still cannot understand how a country of 360 million people cannot produce a strong, middle-of-the-road political party which will eliminate the extremism and use the best of both worlds to unite the country. I guess the Divide & Conquer policy still pays off much too well.
We must demand that the Democratic Party be a political party for its supporters and voters, not the DNC for its bankers. We must demand that the Democratic Party stand for principles, not be a cult of personality!
See my comment above.
Being greedy costs consumers dearly and will start a contagion of bank failures particularly if the fed does not react by lowering interest rates. The problem is going to get worse unless new laws are enacted to watch those greedy bastards much more closely. I’ve been very worried since the fed started raising rates. I think we are going to see lots and lots of fallout. I hope I’m wrong! You were correct in your assessment of the fed. I hope Yellend and Congress act swiftly and decisively to rectify the Fed’s mistake. Lord help us!
HEATHER COX RICHARDSON
MAR 13
At 6:15 this evening, Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen, Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. Powell, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg announced that Secretary Yellen has signed off on measures to enable the FDIC to fully protect everyone who had money in Silicon Valley Bank, Santa Clara, California, and Signature Bank, New York. They will have access to all of their money starting Monday, March 13. None of the losses associated with this resolution, the statement said, “will be borne by the taxpayer.”
But, it continued, “Shareholders and certain unsecured debtholders will not be protected. Senior management has also been removed. Any losses to the Deposit Insurance Fund to support uninsured depositors will be recovered by a special assessment on banks, as required by law.”
The statement ended by assuring Americans that “the U.S. banking system remains resilient and on a solid foundation, in large part due to reforms that were made after the financial crisis that ensured better safeguards for the banking industry. Those reforms combined with today's actions demonstrate our commitment to take the necessary steps to ensure that depositors' savings remain safe.”
We need to prohibit universities from granting MBA degrees! What kind of person, when confronted with choosing from all of human knowledge at a great university, would opt for a degree in advanced-lemonade-stand? MBAs can't run banks competently, or airlines, or resource extraction, and manufacturing flees from their grasp. Our economic affairs, and beyond, are run by sociopaths. I have read that in other societies more companies are run by engineers than by MBA's...not sure.
Being a retired engineer I strongly agree about MBAs. The basic problem is most MBAs just can't take a long view. That's is an underlying reason for the drop in US manufacturing and the push for high investment returns.
Clinton and Obama both loved banking industry 💸 💰 cash.
Clinton repealed Glass Steagulll.
Obama, via the DOJ run by the revolving door 🚪 guys from Covington and Burling (Eric Holder and Lanny Breuer), failed to prosecute those responsible for the Great Recession.
Now the FDIC, Treasury and Fed serve up another example of "privatize the profits, socialize the risk" and TBTF. If the regulators concluded this bank failure was a "systemic risk" that warranted special treatment, where is the enhanced oversight of such banks 🏦 🤔
Sounds like bank 🏦 management violated investment rule 1: failure to have a diverse portfolio and spread the risk among investment classes.
We need to return to the practice of jailing irresponsible bank presidents.
Iceland does exactly that. Be like Iceland!
No, seriously. DON'T be like Iceland.
We did that in the 80's when I worked for the FDIC, during the S & L crisis and the bank meltdowns in the ag and energy states. In the intervening decades, the power of corps, banks and rich folks to influence the policy and enforcement process has grown to the point that in the aftermath of the Great Recession, we held few if any accountable.
Dodd Frank was enacted to curb the abuses that lead to the Great Recession, but much of the goals were left to the need to write regulations to implement Dodd Frank, and the banks and lobbyists buried / stalled / deflected the adoption of those regulations.
The net result of the $$ in the political process to both parties is that Dodd Frank is not enough, the regulations remain weak, the revolving door still spins, the USDOJ political appointees tamp down the prosecutions of the wrong doers, with little or no accountability there is no moral hazard to restrain risky bank conduct and the concept of "equal justice under law" becomes "equal just us under law">
One rule for us (bankers, big corps, etc.) and another set of rules for the rest of you.
See the book Too Big to Jail:
https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674659919
TBTF has become TBTJ and also TBTP (P = prosecute). USDOJ uses deferred prosecution agreements (DPA) to spank the hands of those corporate and banking wrongdoers, ever wonder why Wells Fargo is not shut down with it's string of bad conduct ? TBTP and the flow of $$ to inside the beltway. WF is a case study of a repeat offender: each time it gets caught, a DPA is signed in some boardroom somewhere, the bank pays a fine or penalty, the CEO shows up in the hot seat in front of Congress and then goes back to more bad conduct because the culture never changes or the cost / benefit is worth it.
As long as CU is the law and $$ flows into Congress, this system is broke and the prospects to fix it are not good.
I agree with much of your analysis. I too went thru the savings and loan crisis of the 80s and 90s. I would add the govt. Made some serious errors in the application of their receivership plan. They absolute auctioned off assets. The rich just made a killing. Multi-unit buildings went for as low as $5,000.00. I know because I lost some. We settled out of court when I threatened to make new law, by going to a state Supreme Court. Greed goes on until the majority of society gets fed up with the greedy. Then either by laws or a revolt the greedy are forced to see the error of their ways. History teaches this. We just never know how much greed will cause the changes. Nor when the changes will occur.
Can you still collect rent if you're in jail?
These problems are caused by the difficulty of presidents to know who are the real experts - they go by what they believe, and trust those they have been told are trustworthy - but that does not make those 'actual facts' - yet that's all there is since nobody expects any president to be a financial expert & the subject is so tricky to manage anyway that a lot of things happen in a "trial & error" way. If previously tried & disastrous maybe that decision is not repeated, but every situation is different & 'experts' disagree over best policies. It's a mystery why so many people aspire to be president at all ! Moral of the story is - if expecting safety for your hard-earned cash, do not expect great interest. Hence mine gets basically ZERO recently !
There are no real experts when it comes to vast amounts of money and profit. It all comes down to people, their opinion, and their ability to increase their own profits and power. That is exactly why we need regulations in industry, no matter what kind.
Well, it's not as if they haven't got a choice, now is it?
Now, if you ask me, these problems are not caused by a lack of experts. They are caused when a bunch of seats on the Fed get filled by grace and favour "expert" appointments, doled out like candy bars to the very bankers who are supposed to be being regulated. If it were me who had the choice, rather than Joe, I'd certainly get them outtathere. And then, I suppose I'd go and look for a proper expert.
Mr Obama made a mistake. He was persuaded to the view that, if regulation is working, it is by definition excessive. Glory be.
Now, some regulation gets put there by trial and error. Like "no smoking" in cinemas, after cinemas go up in flames due to discarded cigarettes. But some regulation is there intuitively, like "no smoking" at gas stations, because gas is inflammable. There is nothing really that intuitive about banking regulation. When banks got set up in the 19th century, what regulation was needed? You deposit your money for safe keeping and, when you need it, you uplift it. Easy. When we run a bath, we regulate the temperature to what we believe will make a pleasant bathing experience. Some hot water, and some cold. We keep an eye on it. We don't wait for the bathtub to overflow before turning the taps off. Mr Obama thought that leaving the taps running would not overflow the bathtub. He was wrong. I don't know if Mr Obama knows how uphill a struggle it is to get proper regulation put in place, but I wish he were the one trying to do it now, the opposite of what he signed into law back when. Perhaps Mr Biden will impart to him what a bloody struggle he has left for the current administration - if they're up to it, even.
It is true that bank management violated the investment rules and the type of bank that SVB was makes it explicable how that came about. The fact is, however, that the regulator knew about the imbalance. Told the bank about the imbalance, and then did nothing. The regulator, whose job it is to tell people to turn off bath taps, let the bathtub overflow. And then turned around to tell all onlookers that everything is just fine.
No, Mr Obama, Mrs Yellen, everything is far from fine. But only because there are one or two people who keep an eye on the bath water despite you.
The whole sordid story makes the whole banking industry sound like a Ponzi scheme.
Because it is😐
CaptainPatch ; It appears to be.
Heads they win, tails we lose. Fed raises interest rates to slow down job creation because the tight job market is seen as detrimental to Wall St. Rising interest rates make bank investments worth less, so banks overinvested in "safe" investments start to lose money, particularly banks with too many uninsured depositors, who get spooked by the sudden losses, move their uninsured deposits out of bank, causing collapse of bank and another bailout. Everything is set up to protect the wealthy. Tired of having pee trickling down on me.
I Like your sentiment. "Tinkled on Economics" at its best.
I’m feeling more and more insecure about the future every day. Inflation, rising interest rates, banks going under possible job losses and a recession down the road all of which could be prevented by the system that is enabling the chaos.
. . . and all of which will be fed to the electorate by certain cynical politicians and populist performers as justification for electing another Trumpist authoritarian to save the country.
And the Mouth Breathers will buy it 'cause, you know - those "dangerous" LGBTQ folks.
Unfortunately, you are quite correct, Mr. Schumacher. Repubbies are always very quick to circulate their twist on the the news and further undermine our confidence in good and decent governance. Don't be fooled by the twist.
🤢🤮
Agreed. The future ain't what it used to be.
The usual solution is a world war, destroying vast amounts of men and material, with the chastened survivors piecing together what’s left. Does that cheer you up?
Ramona Agin ; Reforms are needed for sure.
Agreed Laurie, how to get them done is the question. I had hoped that the Biden Administration would step in and make some changes but sadly few have been made. Now it looks like we are headed for a recession which means that Biden will be a one term president. A Republican will get elected and we will start to see radical change. Not for the good as you know.